All-Ireland Under 16 Camogie A Championship Final – Tipperary 2-8 Kilkenny 0-13

Tipperary defeated Kilkenny by 2-8 to 0-13 in the All-Ireland Under 16 Camogie A Championship Final on Saturday in the Gaelic Grounds Limerick.

Tipp claim U16 camogie title

From the Breaking News web site

Tipperary came out on top of an absolute thriller to make it third time lucky and annex the All-Ireland U16 ‘A’ camogie title at the Gaelic Grounds. The Premier County’s finest had lost the last two All-Irelands at this level, and Kilkenny came out on top when these two teams met in the preliminary round by just a point. On this occasion though, driven on by Ann Eviston, it was Tim Maher’s charges that had the minimum advantage at the final whistle, 2-8 to 0-13.

Kilkenny had a strong wind in their favour in the opening half, at the end of which they led by 0-10 to 0-5. Julie Anne Malone, Michaela Kenneally and the magnificent Miriam Walsh were amongst the scorers for the Black and Amber, while the impressive Tara Kennedy hit three of Tipp’s points. Walsh was to finish with a personal tally of seven points but that wasn’t enough to swing it her side’s way. Tipp were level by the fifth minute of the second half, helped by a Jenny Grace goal set up brilliantly by the dangerous Cliodhna Ryan. Mairead Teehan sent a rasping shot to the Kilkenny net in the ninth minute but Kilkenny kept battling on and might have snatched the honours but for a brilliant save by Tipp goalkeeper Sarah Connan.

Match Preview

All-Ireland U16A Championship Final

Kilkenny v Tipperary

Gaelic Grounds, 3.30pm

Kilkenny prevailed by just a point when these two sides met in the opening round of the All-Ireland U16A championship in March so the expectation is that the result in the final will be in doubt right up to the final whistle.

The Black and Amber accounted for Galway and Derry subsequently, before putting Clare to the sword with 24 points to spare in the semi-final. Lydia Fitzpatrick is a deadly accurate free-taker, while Julie-Anne Malone, Mary Corcoran and Michelle Walsh are very lively attackers with a keen eye for a score.

In defence, Catherine Foley and Mary O’Connell are resolutely strong performers in the central positions, with the latter a truly outstanding performer at centre-back despite being underage again next year.

Tipp looked bound for the exit door when 10 points in arrears to Cork with 10 minutes remaining in their semi-final but a brace of goals from Tara Kennedy and another from Cliodhna Ryan helped secure a replay.

The Premier outfit made no mistake second time around, making full use of the elements in the opening half to blitz their opponents and finish with four goals in hand. Kennedy and Ryan were amongst the goalscorers again but the star of the show was hat-trick heroine Gillian McKenna.

With such scoring power on both sides, patrons at Limerick’s Gaelic Grounds seem certain to be in store for a belter.

Tipperary 2-8 (J Grace 2-0, C Maher (1f), T Kennedy 0-3 each, L McKeogh 0-2);
Kilkenny 0-13 (M Walsh 0-7, J Malone 0-3 (1f), L Fitzpatrick 0-2 (2f), A Gannon 0-1.